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News on Improper Vaccine Storage

By Palos Verdes Medical Group

June 08, 2012

Tags: Vaccine immunizations

Earlier this week, the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services published a report on the improper storage of pediatric vaccines. They found that 76% of the 45 providers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) visited had exposed their vaccines to inappropriate temperatures for at least 5 cumulative hours. Improper vaccine storage can reduce the potency and efficacy of the vaccine, reports the investigators, therefore increasing the likelihood that children are not receiving the maximum protection against preventable diseases. The report further reveals:

Thirteen providers stored expired vaccines together with nonexpired vaccines, increasing the risk of mistakenly administering the expired vaccine. Finally, the selected providers generally did not meet vaccine management requirements or maintain required documentation.

The findings were covered extensively in the media on programs such as ABC’s Good Morning America and Fox News. It is important to remember that the 45 providers visited were all participating in the CDC’s Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. VFC is a government program that provides free vaccines to children who are Medicaid-eligible, uninsured, underinsured or American Indian or Alaska Native. VFC providers do not accurately depict a proper sample size of practicing pediatricians in the United States. If the CDC were to take a random sample of pediatricians throughout the United States and report on the vaccine storage, the findings would be vastly different.

This report demonstrates a hole in the government program, possibly from a lack of education on proper vaccine management and does not accurately represent practices such as Palos Verdes Medical Group.

The physicians at Palos Verdes Medical Group are involved in the studies that provide the information on how temperature affects the stability of vaccines and are therefore highly knowledgeable on the topic and aware of the situation. Palos Verdes Medical Group takes every precaution to ensure our vaccines are stored at the proper temperature. Vaccine expiration dates are also recorded in our patients’ charts when administered. This ensures that expired vaccines are properly discarded.

The health and safety of your children is our number one priority at PVMG. We encourage parents to ask questions. Please know that we would also be happy to show you how we properly manage our vaccines at any time!

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine Storage and Handling Guide. United States Department of Health & Human Services, Dec. 2011. Web. 08 June 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/storage/default.htm>.

Office of Inspector General. Vaccines for Children Program: Vulnerabilities in Vaccine Management. Rep. no. OEI-04-10-00430. United States Department of Health and Human Services, June 2012. Web. 8 June 2012. <http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-04-10-00430.asp>.

Additional Resources & Articles:

American Academy of Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics Calls for Resources for Pediatricians Administering Childhood Vaccines.

Med Page Today. Report Cites Problems in CDC Vaccine Program.

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